Leah, Reincarnated As a Dungeon Core!

How many people were VIPs anyway? Since I am a VIP, because of my current status then… I am the first branch out of four, so there is a chance all the other branch heads are there. But not quite since the trade house guy was willing to give this request not knowing who my branch head was. So either he doesn’t care who does it, or simply doesn’t care who gets killed. 

 

Either way… they were probably just as strong… it was going to be a grueling and hard task to kill them all… Could I even do it? ⁠—No, I shouldn’t doubt myself… But it was still something to be wary of…⁠— I was doubting myself. I probably couldn’t do it without preparation. I was strong enough to be able to kill them, but not in actual combat. It had to be an assassination. 

 

Besides, just how strong is this guy? He worked under Gartz guy after all… I gave him a discerning glance. I managed to see a bit of sweat on the skin next to his eyes, but just that. Was he nervous? 

 

I kept ogling it as we continued walking down the hall. What were his stats anyway? 

 

Ding! ? 

[AHS Estimate ⁠— Average: 230 | With bonus: 490] 

 

… “Your stats grew from the massacre,” so that’s how he knew. An ability to see past the veil and see nature. Although it couldn’t see individual titles, perhaps him knowing I was a core was either from a blood sample; seeing my blood kept getting everywhere, or it simply a title effect. Or it could be through a stat… Though that would be hard to achieve. I don’t want to know about the possible title effects that exist. 

One thing that I question is how did he see everything? An item? An effect? It was something that I had to consider next time ⁠— didn’t want people to find out about my actions, at least not like this. A bit more information would be nice. 

 

Having a detailed breakdown of their status would be too much. Simply knowing an average of stats was enough to gauge their combat power and capabilities, albeit titles and item effects were not accounted for. But not everything was so bad, I was strong, at least that’s what I believed. And I will depend on this belief from now on… 

 

Because that’s all I could do.

 

Be it a request, be it a setup, be it hell… I was going to make it out of it, because that was what I wanted to do. Perhaps he expected me to die, but I was already set on it. I was going to kill every single person in this mansion. 

 

Was it because of the request? Perhaps. Did I want to do it? Perhaps. Was it fun? No. But I had to get stronger. Although the true reason to why I want to fulfill my initial mission so badly is beyond me. I don’t understand it, nor comprehend it. It is something that is beyond my understanding, something that is there and affects me yet I can’t remove it nor get rid of it. It was an error. It was what I wanted to say but in the end… We don’t need reasons to do things. 

 

In the end, this is what I wanted. And that was enough of a reason, I didn’t need something else. It was simply something like that, a simple-minded reason. 

 

If that wasn’t enough of a reason then I was going to make it enough. 

 

We continued walking along the seemingly endless and dimly lit corridor. Even though it was generously illuminated all of the darkness simply made it feel dull and elegant. I did notice an ongoing trend, it was a minimalistic logo on the walls ⁠— a reaper with a scythe in tow, a tunic, and a hand extended towards the front. As if it was coming after you. 

 

Was this an organization? 

 

“What’s with the reaper?” I decided to ask, in an attempt to make my escort at ease. He had been sweating for quite a bit even though he had looked down on me before. Was it the AHS estimate? Does he also have it or… he felt it? 

 

I could kill him at any time. He didn’t pose an issue. 

 

As I ogled and evaluated him, he coughed. “Oh, you noticed?” He took a few steps forward and stood in front of me with a grin. “Welcome! The newest executive⁠— I guess you could say rat… Since you haven’t agreed to anything. Welcome to Scythe Logistics! A logistics group as said in the name... Or a mercenary group I guess you could say.” Logistics? Eeeh…

“And here I thought humans were nothing but brutes.” All they did was get frustrated, be emotional and cry… I did too, that was fine.

“Ouch, funny you say that. Considering your position a few days ago.” 

“I am not the same.” Did I need to repeat myself? 

“Yes, I can tell… Anyways, yes we are an organization. And we welcome you as our guest. You can either be our rat or be an executive, that’s for you to decide.” 

 

He walked to the side and opened a door, a ray of light suddenly illuminated the hallway. 

 

“Our headquarters.” 

 

“Hey, stupid Gatherer, look at this diamond! Isn’t it pret⁠— Ooh! Looks like the collector is finally here guys!” 

“Ooh, great! We can finally move on! Also, what do you mean by ‘guys’? It’s only me you pig!” An angry female voice exclaimed. 

 

He stood beside the door fidgeting. As they argued they finally realized what was going on and stopped talking, or rather discussing. 

 

“About that. There has been a change of plans. Welcome the new collector…” He gestured me to walk in, having no choice and sensing no hostility. I did not feel at danger, nor at risk. Worst case scenario a runaway was the plan. 

 

I stood there. Hood down. I probably looked like a hooded midget with a cloak. Meanwhile, I saw two people sitting on a couch and another empty couch. They were quite dirty and the table had drinks on it. 

 

“Hmhm, is this a joke? Pretty sure my recruits can give her a beating. Girl collector? Didn’t you mean to join the gatherers? They get to play with the flowers.” 

Slap⁠— “Shut up for a second you brute. Take a closer look…” The annoyed woman with green outfit shushed him. 

The “brute” wearing a red outfit with an oversized coat narrowed his eyes before they widened. 

 

“Woah, this girl isn’t as good as mister stone-face. But I have to say, she could kill a lot of people here.” 

“Want me to try it?” I was going to do killing anyway. 

“No, not so fast yet. I want to do it first.” He smiled. “May I join?” I tilted my head, this guy was weird… He was smoking and had cuts on his lips and eyes, balding as well. What faction was this? 

 

“Ah, Collector, that is Fighter, you guessed it. From the Fighter faction, he is the number 2. You can call me the Alchemist.” The thug that had almost killed me a few days ago whispered. 

“Don’t take it personally, I prefer this name. Names don’t matter once you are dead anyway.” He puffed his cigarette. 

 

“This girl is The leader of the gatherer’s branch. Even though she is supposed to be cutesy she is quite the tomboy.” I could tell. She was wearing tight shorts, a blouse that exposed her oddly toned abdomen and her thighs were full of scars⁠— Correction the entirety of her body was full of scars. She was full of muscles. Although her face carried soft features. Weird. 

 

“Ah, as you can tell we are missing one person.” He pointed at a paper on a seat. That read ⁠— “Processor absent”. Albeit it was full of blood. 

 

“He would still be here if he hadn’t gotten into an argument with the Trade House guy.” He gave it another puff. Ah… 

“Ah well, that guy is our enemy anyway.” Ah… 

 

“Not so fast everyone. She isn’t an executive yet. Let alone in the operation!” 

“She isn’t?!” Both of them tensed up and glared daggers at me. 

 

“Good. We didn’t say much more.” The fighter said with a cold sweat. 

“I don’t particularly care, you know,” I informed them.

“Can’t have you listening either way.” the woman responded before going silent. 

 

Nothing happened inside the room, just the growing silence as their eyes pierced on me; displaying some unseen before bloodlust. I was in danger. 

 

“Well, there you have it, Collector, will you join us? In this crusade,” he whispered. 

“Crusade?” What was he talking about? 

“I can’t say much. Let’s just say Arlesh is dangerous ⁠— the town is not what you believe it to be. And unfortunately for everyone, it’s a thing that needs to be deleted from the map.” 

“I can tell…” The entirety of this town didn’t make sense, to begin with. “But deleted? That’s quite extreme isn’t it?” 

 

He smiled. “That is very much true! But I can’t tell you just yet.”

“You need me to join you before I get any more information, right?” Sigh. This smelled like a trap. 

 

“Good, looks like you aren’t stupid. Quite sharp actually.” The Alchemist continued talking. “Let’s see, crusade. We will take over, Scythe Logistics will take over this town. We cannot let it continue like this. We are hired after all.” Who would hire someone to take on a whole town? “We have lost quite a few people, already as you can tell.”

 

He made a brief pause to look at the bloody paper. 

 

“Well, I guess take over isn’t the right word. More like extinguish it from the map.” He did a dismissive wave. “Anyway, will you join us in our noble cause?” He didn’t explain anything… “Or will you… face the consequences of showing up uninvited.” 

 

Both of the leaders in front of me put their hands in their pockets. Waiting…

 

I could fight… But can I take 3 on? About 500 stat total after bonus from the Alchemist⁠— there is telling if his skills are purely combat-oriented or simple skills. Stat total does not factor in damage bonuses, but what about the other two, how strong are they? 

 

First the fighter:

[AHS Estimate ⁠— Average: 240 | With bonus: 790] 

 

… Maybe one on one, but three on one? What about the gatherer? 

 

[AHS Estimate ⁠— Average: 330 Taboo’d | With bonus: 604] 

 

I am not even able to run away… Not even a chance… Speed maybe, but if they found me I was done for. I couldn’t compete with 790 total ⁠— Most of the time the bonuses take place during battle. I was a special case, and even with time in my favor, I couldn’t compete. At least not with three… Taboo'd... I suppose it isn't that unlikely to run into someone like that here, but that means he was also able to see it on me... Isn't that kind of funny? It was definitely funny. 

 

I had walked into my own death. But still... I had to make it out no matter the consequences I face… It had to be that? I didn’t want to use it… But… I guess I had no choice… I took hold of my dagger when I felt a breath down my neck. It was the Alchemist ⁠— I had thought about things too much. 

 

“You don’t need to fight… You just need to join us⁠— destroy this town and you are free to do whatever you want.” His sweet whispers were tempting in my ear. “Again ⁠— no strings attached, you don’t need to die here. Well, there is one condition, but I don’t think you’ll mind it too much.” 

 

… There was no choice was there? 

 

“I accept…” I was going to die if I didn’t. 

“Wonderfu⁠— 

“I have one condition…” I still had to save Rin. 

 

He came to a pause. Everyone was petrified. Silence descended upon the room⁠ once again— the temperature was decreasing and no one was moving. I could feel the Alchemist’s ragged breath behind me. Perhaps these were my last words. Like hell, they would⁠…

 

“I see… Once you join our organization you can’t get out, no matter what. And for your request ⁠— you might need to defend it with your life.” Of course... 

 

Either try or die trying: I steeled myself, I wasn’t going to die here. Even if I had to use ‘that’ I wasn’t going to die. After a short breath, I opened my mouth as I glared daggers into him. 

“Bring it on!”